Railway-tie.



J y@ v f una H. V. SLUTZ.

RAILWAY TIB. APPLICATION FILED mv. 25, 1911.

1,058,659, Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

To all whom itx/nay concern NITED STATES PATENT oiiiiicn.

HARMON V. SLU'1Z,v 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Be it known that I, Hannon V. Surry., a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new' and useful Improvement in Railway-Ties, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to cross ties for v railways, and theprii'icipal'object of the invention is to provide an improved, siinple,'strong and resilient device. ot the class described which is effectiveand efficient in op eration.

A fiirtherobject oif the invention is to provide a tie which preventsthe wheels of a vehicle passing over the rails secured there- 'fto,lfrom becoming rail-bound.

. j 'A still further object is to provide a tie of 'this kind which hasa strong hold on the road ballast, thereby preventing the track fromslipping and permitting the use of less expensive ballast.

Another object is to provide improved means for tainping the ballastabout the tie and to permit the resilient action of the tie in thecenter.

For the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment ot' other newand useful ob- -eetS, as will appear, the invention consists in thefeatures of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement oi'thc several parts generally shown in the drawing and described inthespecificationi but more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.y

'In the drawing, Figure, l is a side elevation of a tie constructed inaccordance with the rinci les of this invention' Fifr. 2 is a .plan Viewof the saine; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sect-ion of the saine showing,lthe ballast disposed about the tie; Fig. 4t is a cross sectional view'on the line 4-4 oit' Fig. t.

` One of the difficulties to be overcome in railway construction is toprovide means for preventing the rails from beinginelined outwardly Whena-load is imposed upon ,the

`rails. This iscaused in case of the ordinary 'action of the car trucksin passing over any tie, will cause, in time, an up and down movement ofthe end of the tie, since itis Specification of Letters Patent.

Application linea November 25, 1911.

vt he RAILWAY-TIE.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

Serial No. 662,255.

evident that. the center of the tieLis lsupported by the ballastunderneath it, and the weight imposed upon the tie is directed to- 'ai'dthe` ends thereof.' ".lhis causes a bulging action in the centerv o'ftht` tie which finally results in the ends of the tic being permanentlydepressed, whereby the i'ails will be. tilted outwardly from theiroriginal position and the inner edges of the balls ot the rails, will bemoved upwardly and will engage the flanges of the wheels as they passover the rails. This causes the wheels to become bound between the railsand results in an undue wearing of the rails. larticulai-ly is this truein"constructions where the pal object to obviate this dilliculty as wellas to provide an improvedlight. and simple resilient construction whichhas a superior hold upon the road bed7 and which may be regulated astai' as the resilient action ofthe tie itself, is concerned.

teferring now more particularly to the drawing', a resilient member l()preferalily i of channel shape in cross section` as shown clearly inFig'. fl, is composed of any suitable inetallie material, such as 'steell or wrought iron aml the like` and is forined with substantiallyvertical dependin;l sid/e portionsl 11 lwhich are. preferably thinner inconstruction than the connecting web portion 1Q. This member l() ispreferably of a length substantially the saine or slightly less than thestandard tie, and is preferably formed at its center with a rounded andraised portion 1P neeessitatingl cci-responding curved reeesses 14 atthe lower edge of depending side portions ll.V This rounded poi-tion`l?) is preferably provided with a tan'iping"opening 15 substantiallyrectangular in forni and disposed within the longitudinal axisv oftheopening extending lengthwise of the tie menilier l0. A lid or closure ltis provided yfor this` openingF 15 and fastening devices '17, preferablybolts or'the like, are positioned at the corners to fasten the 'lid inplace over theopenine'. ln

i the connecting;r web portioni12` and adjacent ipo Fig. 2, to receivefastening devices for se curing the rails 19 to tlie tie. ln the presentexempliication of the invent-ion, spikes 20 are employed as thefastening members or devices as will bel presently set forth.

Disposedjat the ends of tie member 10, are blocks 21 which may-be ofanydesired or suitable material, and inthe present exemplilication ofthe invention,.are intended to ras 'are other ties. noted in thisconnection that4 either one orbecomposed of wood. These blocks arepositioned vbetween the. side members -of the tie, preferably extend to.the end of the tie member, and are ofsuch a length that a greaterportion 'of'each block is disposed rWithout the center line of the railthan be* ltween therails. The raily is fastened to the block 21l bymeans of the Spikes 20 which pass through the openings 18 provided forthemat the proper places adj'acent'the ends ot the tie members. It hasbeen found with this construction that a much cheaper grade of materialcan be used for the blocks 2l .tor the reason that they are entirely'covered exceptat the outerv end by thetie' member 10 and for thisreason are notso'muchl subject to the action of the Weather or moist-ure.It will furthermore be are inclined weight passing over the rails,

each rall 1s inwardly for the reason that positioned nearer the insideendl of block than the outside, and if there is any tendency of 'theblock to be inclined, it will be toward the center, thereby eliminatingtbn possibility of tbc rail tilting' outwardly, and preventing it ,frombending thef'langcs of the wheels passing over the rails. ln

- other words, the tilting action ol the blocks prevents wheelspassing;` over the rails from becoming rail-bound.

ln order to strengthen and to properly distribute the stresses andstrains in thev tie member, it is provided with braces 22 and 23 whichare secured on the outside ofthe depending side portions 11 of the saidmember 10. These braces are preferably of the same or a similar materialto that of which the member 10 is composed, and they are disposed at anangle to a vertical center line and at different distances from therails 19.

ln the present. cxeinplilication.of the inven-` tion. the braces 22% aredisposed adiacent the ends et ihr lie member, andthe braces the `22 aredisposed between the center lines of edge of the side portions 11 andextending between the lower ends of the braces 22 and 23, are braces24.v These braces 24 are adapted to strengthen the support of the braces22 and 23 and to form a lower ed of increased width for the depending sie portions.

To secure the blocks 21 in position at the ends of. the member 10 and toproperly diw rect the weight imposed upon the blocks to the tie member10, bolts or bars`25 are provided which. extend through' the blocks 21,the depending side portions v11 and the braces 22 and 23. These bolts 25are secured in position by nuts 26 or other fastening devices at theends thereof, and it is evident that the weight imposed upon the blocks,will be communicated by means of the bolts to the tie member' 10, sothat nc severe strains are placed upon the blocks 21.

It will also be noticed that these bolts 25 are spaced with respect ltothe center line of the rail so that as shown in the resentexemplifcation of the invention,L the olt at the outer end of the blockis farther front the line of the rail than the bolt ofthe inner -end oftheblock.

ln order to strengthen the central l' ortion of ythe tie, braces 27 areprovided which are secured o-n the outside of the depending sideportions and extend from the uppermiddle portion of each side at anangle, to the lower edge ofthe side at a point intermediate of thecenter line of the tie and the outer .end thereof. The lower end of eachof these braces preferably extends to a point-adjacentthe inner end ofthe block 21 which is secured in the end of the tie. The object ot thesebraces 27 is to strengthen the tie mem-- ber at its central portion andto direct the weight imposed upon the tie by the rails toward the centerof the'tie, thereby resulting in a resilient action of the middle portion of the tie member. p

The resilient action of the middle portion of the tie member is aided.by reason of the' disposition of the blocks at the ends of the tiemember leaving the' portion between the innerends of the blocks4unsupported, and providing a space for the reception of ballast.' Inractice,- this space between the inner en s ofthe blocks 21 is filledwith ballast, and a space is usually left at the top of the ballast(.seeFig. 3) boe.

tween therballast Aand the upper web of the tie member 10 so' that theupper side of the tie4 member is free tobend downv wardly upder asullicient strain caused by si' weight imposed upon the rails. rlheballast within `this space is tamped in position through the tampingopening'lo, any den ist,

sired or suitable tainping tool being insei'ted through the opening forthis purpose. As this chamber is closed, it is evident that the ballastcontained in the chambei is not subject to the weather and nnderordinary co1iditions even in rainy weather, is in dry condition. liyleavino' a space between the top otl the ballast in this chamber and theweb connecting portion of the tie member, the resilient action of themiddle portion ot' the tie member is permitted in a greater degree thanwould be permitted if the ballast entirely fills the chamber. As hasbeen pre` viously described, a weight imposed upon to the track.

the tie member and upon the rails is directed toward the middle of thetie, and results in a bending action upon the middle portion which tendsto bend the tie concavely. In other words, the lower edges of thedepending side portions 1l of the tie member are subjected to thegreatest tensional strain. The bending ot' the tie member is' by meansot' the braces which are disposed along the sides of the tie member, andwhich are positioned to distribute and direct the weight and tensiontoward the lcenter ot the tie member. With this construction, it isevident thatv a very firm hold upon the ballastis possible, for thereason that the two end blocks are embedded in the ballast and bearagainst it upon all sides, thus providing a double bearing surface toprevent lateral movement with respect to the track, and an additionalbearing surface is afforded by the channel shaped middle structure ot'the tie member whereby both of the depending side portions engage theballast to prevent a longitudinal movement of the tie with respect Thedownward bearing surface of the tie is of course the same as any othertie .of equal width. Vith this construction, it is possible and is foundexpedient to reduce the length of the tie slightly from that of thestandard length which is considered eight feet, so that this tie isfound very efficient in curves of short radius. v

A further advantage of this construction on curves of short radins isthat the superior holding powerof the tie upon the ballast keeps thetie, and consequently the track, nioi'e firmly in position upon thecurves, for it is upon the curves that the greatest danger of slippingof the ties, is present.

While I have thus described thepreferred embodiment of my invention,vit'is evident. that others skilled in the arts to which this appertains,may make various changes in the construction',combination andarrangement of the several parts Without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway tie the combination with a resilient member, ot blocksdisposed at the ends thereof to which the rails are attached, and meansto secure the blocks to the said member through the sides thereof, atdifferent (lis-.lances trom the rails to throw a greater' weight betweenthem than'outsidif.

2. In a railway tie, the combination i ith a resilient member, of blocksdisposed aty the ends thereof to which rails are attached, ail-l meansto secure the blocks to the membri at ditl'erent distances from therails to dis tribute the load imposed upon the rails throughout thetie.-

3. In a railway tie, a channel member adapted to be positionedzwith theside poi'- tio-ns down and having a raised middle portion with anopening therein to provide a chamber higher than the level ot' theballast, and the opening being for tainping purposes.

4. In a railway tie, a channel member adapted to be positionedrwith theside portions down and having an upwardlyrounded portion in the middlewith a corresponding recess in the edge ot the sidrportions ot' themember. v

5. In a railway tie, a channel member adapted to be ptisitioned with the`side portions down and havinganupwardly rounded middleV portion with atampingI opening therein extending longitudinally of the member.

(bln a railway tie, the combination 4with a resilient channel memberwith ai raised and rounded portion adjacent the middle of the memberhaving an opening longer than wide extending longitudinally ot' themeniber, and means to close said opening.

7. In a railway tie. the combiinitioirot a resilient member havingvertical side portions, and braces extending at an angle from adjacentthe middle and top ot'the side por-,

tion to the bottom edge ot the side portion and remote from the ends ofthe tie.

8. In 'a railway tiethe combination oi" a s resilient channel shapedinem'bei with its sides disposed downwardly, the connecting web portionbeing formed at the middle of the member with a raised and roundedprojection and the bottom edge of the sides bey ing correspondinglyrecessed; and braces secured to the Vsides of thennember and each,extending at an angle from the -upper middle part of the side of themember to the lower` edge thereof at a point intermediate of the sideot' the member and the end thereof.

9. In a railway tie, the combination of a resilient member, havingvertical side por tions, the rails being positioned adjacent the 'endsof the tie, andbraees secured tothe 'said portions and extending atangles to the vertical upon the side ofthe member.,

10. In a railway tie, the combination of a resilient-member` havingvertical side portions, the rails being positioned adjacent the ends ofthe tie, and h-races'secured to the said portions and extending atangles to the vertical upon the side of the member andatdiierentjdistances from the center line of the rails, the braces atthe outer ends 'of the member being disposed at a greaterdistance thanthe other braces 11. In'ajrailway tie,f the combination of aresilientmember having depending side portions, the rails being positioned nearthe ends of the tie, braces secured to the depending portions on theoutside thereof, and eX- tending at angles to the vertical at differentdistances from the center line ofthe rails and terminating adj acent,the upper and lower edges of the side, and a brace disposed along thelower edge of the side be tween the lower ends of said angularlydisposed braces and providing a wider supporting lower surface for thetie.

1'2. Ina railway tie, the combination with an inverted channel shapedresilient member having substantially vertical depending side .port-ionsand a raised and rounded proyjection at the center with a -ta1npingopen- 1 lng therein, and corresponding depressions in the lower edges ofthe depending sides, of

vblocks disposed intthe member at the end thereof, leaving a lspace atthe center of the ymember for ballast, a cover orsaid tampblocks beingso disposed that the greater portion thereof is outside of the centerline of each rail and the said rods being spaced nearer to the centerline of the rail between the rails than the ones outside thereof, andbraces secured to and extending from adjacent the top edge of eachdepending side portion to a point adjacent the botto-m edge thereof andin proximity to the inside edge of the said blocks, all of the saidbraces being arranged at diii'erent distances from the rails'toVdistribute the weights imposed upon -the rails throughout the tie andto cause the said tie to be bent concavely when a load is imposed uponthe rails.

13. A railway tie comprising a metallic channel shaped member,longitudinally resilient and having straight side portions substantiallyat right angles to the connecting web and thi-nner than the web, memberssecured thereto at the ends and inside thereof to which the rails areattached, the resilient member being disposed with the web uppermost,and the members at the ends being dis posed with a greater portionoutside of the rails than between them to arch the channel memberdownwardly at the center, thethin sides being adapted to enter theballast at `the center when weight is applied to the tie through therails at the end.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 20th day of November A.D. 1911.

HARMON ',V. SLUTZ.

